The Centre for Local Business Development (Centre) is happy to announce that it is now an ISO 9001:2015 certified organisation. The ISO 9001:2015 standard is an internationally recognised quality standard used to certify that a company’s products and/or services satisfy client expectations through an effective quality management system.
The Centre started on its ISO journey in October 2021. Through various meetings with the ISO consultant, documenting already established systems and implementing best practice systems guided by the standard, the Centre moved to have an internal audit January 2022 and its external audit on March 14-15, 2022. Lead by the QHSSE Department and ISO consultant, the Centre was able to officially become ISO certified on March 26, 2022.
This certification focused on the core element of the Centre and its services – capacity building and trainings. Being ISO 9001:2015 serves as a continued enforcement of the current level of service the Centre team has been able to deliver through its trainings and mentorship programmes, and springboard for any future development. The Centre’s implementation of ISO Certification entails more than just producing documentation and putting procedures in place; it also entails enforcing company culture, ideas, and a genuine desire to improve both individually and collectively.
“As a Centre, we aim to deliver our trainings to the best level of service to local companies to help them grow. Becoming ISO 9001:2015 certified demonstrates the Centre’s commitment to ensuring that our programmes are delivered to an international standard and meets our customers’ expectations,” said Dr. Natasha Gaskin-Peters, Director of the Centre. She goes on to say, “I am extremely proud of the entire Centre team who worked to make this a reality, and our QHSSE Department for being the internal lead on this process.”
The Centre for Local Business Development also provides ISO Mentorship to local businesses looking to become ISO 9001:2015 compliant. Before becoming eligible for ISO mentorship, interested local organisations must register and complete the Centre’s HSSE Management System Mentorship Programme (HSSE MS Programme) which focused on building the health, safety, security and environment management system within that business. It’s a multi-phased programme that starts with an interactive awareness seminar for senior executives and HSSE workers, follow-ups, site visits, and a questionnaire audit to assess the level of completeness within an organisation. The HSSE MS Programme began in 2019 and has since aided 25 local companies in fully establishing and implementing an HSSE management system for their business.